Untitled
by Punkarina85
Summary: Severus adored Adrienne when they were together at Hogwarts, but never told her. When she returns to teach, he thinks he might get a second chance. But what happens when one of Adrienne's old flames pops up? Please r/r! Flames cook ramen! :)
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER!!! Any character from the Harry Potter books are notnotnotnotnotnotnot mine! They are the intellectual property of the genius JK Rowling, and I bow down to such wonderful writing. Adrienne, Gabe, and almost anyother non-HP characters are mine. Please refrain from using them without my permission, not that you would want to. :)  
  
  
  
Severus scanned the his eyes across the crowded great room. No sign of her. He sighed and began to leave the room; without her there was no reason to stay, even at the celebration of his graduation. He was neither a big fan or dancing, big crowds, nor the vast majority of his class mates.  
  
Suddenly, a beautiful young witch dressed in amethyst formal robes that perfectly complemented her olive complexion, auburn hair and bottle green eyes ran to his side. "Severus Snape, where the bloody hell do you expect you're going?," she demanded playfully with a lilting Irish accent. "You can't tell me there's any way you would miss the graduation party!"  
  
The corners of Severus's mouth twitched, the closest his visage ever came to a smile. "I didn't think anyone would miss me if I slipped out," he explained."Don't be stupid!," the beauty retorted. "You've got to dance with me! This might be the last time I see all of my friends!"  
  
He was about to make some return, but she quickly pulled him onto the dance floor and began a queer mix of her own of the jitterbug mixed with moves neither he nor anyone else, he was sure, had ever witnessed before. Nevertheless, she was the most graceful thing he had ever seen and he felt like a bumbling oaf beside of her. "Adrienne, can we please skip the dancing?," he asked, covering his embarassment with annoyance. "I'm afraid I can't keep up with you."  
  
It was true. In fact, he doubted anyone could ever keep up or even come close to comparing to Adrienne Conlon. She was unlike anyone else in every way and without a doubt the most popular student Hogwarts had or would ever see. Within her house of Gryffindor, she was beloved, along with James Potter, for her skills on the Quidditch field. Off the field, she had a tight knit group of friends within her house, Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black, none of whom Severus liked at all. Outside of her house, she was liked by all, as well. Everyone reacted well to her friendly and outgoing nature, despite her muggle family and upbringing, which would have usually brought ridicule from many students. Especially Slytherins. Especially Severus. However, she won him over just like she had everyone else when she made it her project to draw him out of his shell from the first day they had arithmancy together, and since then a friendship, and more on his side, had blossomed.  
  
Adrienne glared at Severus. "Fine, if you don't want to have fun on our last night seeing each other…"   
  
"What do you mean, last-," but before he could finish the question, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to a group of her best friends  
  
Severus grimaced, but tolerated it for her sake. He was desperate to know what she had meant, "our last night."  
  
"Well, fellows, I guess tonight is the last hurrah," Adrienne said to the group.  
  
Sirius Black, a handsome young man with longish black hair, who had been glaring at Severus, turned to look at Adrienne with one eye brow raised. "Last hurrah? Adrienne, you and I both the know the wizarding world is not big enough for such good friends to loose touch."  
  
"He's right, Adrienne," James, who stood with his arm casually draped around his girlfriend/fiancee Lily, said. "We won't let you get away that easy. I think you're just being dramatic."  
  
Adrienne's eyes sparkled with a secret. "No, the wizarding world isn't, but the world itself is quite big."  
  
Severus, who never really said much around this group of competitors for his beloved Adrienne's attention, couldn't take the suspense. "Bloody hell, Adrienne, what are you hiding?!" He got glares from everyone else surrounding.  
  
"I'm moving to America. Muggle America. My things are packed and I leave in a week," she said simply.  
  
Her companions stared at her, agape. "You…you can't be serious," Severus stuttered.  
  
"But I am," she replied. "I'm moving to New York to be an actress. I figure a mudblood like myself who was raised muggle can survive. And there isn't really much call for actresses in our world."  
  
Sirius looked at her darkly. "Don't call your self that, Adrienne."   
  
Adrienne laughed her bell-like giggle and playfully pushed his shoulder. "Calm down. All of you! You act like I'm dying!" No one looked any happier. "Come on, guys. This is our last night at Hogwarts; let's have some fun!" With that, she grabbed Remus by the sleeve and pulled him behind her onto the dance floor.  
  
Severus took the opportunity to slink back to the Slytherin dorms. Once he got to his room, he quickly checked to make sure no one was around before beginning to dig through the top drawer in his nightstand. After a little searching, he pulled out a black velvet box and opened it. Inside was a necklace, a garnet stone placed in a silver setting with stars and moons engraved around it hanging from a silver chain. It was beautiful, perhaps not beautiful enough to suit Adrienne, but as close as he could afford.  
  
He quickly snapped the box closed and made his way downstairs back to the party to find Adrienne. It was now or never, his time to finally confess his feelings for her. He'd waited four years, but if he waited another day it might be too late. As he made his way back to the great hall he heard to familiar voices talking on the stairs and crept closer.  
  
"I can't believe you didn't tell me," a male voice said.  
  
"There's a reason I didn't," a female voice responded. "I didn't want our last few weeks together to be sad and weird."  
  
"So instead they just slipped through my fingers," the man responded.  
  
Severus peered around the corner to see Adrienne and Sirius seated closely together on the stairs, clasping each other's hands as if they were afraid the other might disappear if they let go.  
  
"No, they just didn't get weird," Adrienne said. She rested her forehead against Sirius's. "Listen, let's just enjoy our time together before it's too late, eh?" She looked at him and smiled the sweet smile that had sent Severus reeling every time he saw it. Seeing her give it to Sirius now broke his heart.  
  
Sirius smiled back at her. "Alright. If that's what you want, love." He gently kissed her cupid bow mouth before getting up and pulling him right up with her. "Just save the slow dances for me ok?"  
  
Adrienne giggled and hugged him. "They're all yours." The happy couple got up and walked back towards the great room, having taken no notice of Severus's presence.  
  
Severus sadly watched them leave and then pulled out the box and opened it. He sadly fingered the jewel. "One day, I'll find a way to give this to her," he promised himself. Suddenly he felt hot tears welling in his eyes. He quickly snapped the box closed and stalked back to his dormitory.  
  
  
More to come! Please r/r, but no flames, please!! 


	2. Chapter 1

18 years later  
  
Adrienne looked around her large room in Hogwarts castle with a silly grin on her face. "And I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I came to the dorms from the family's relative shack in Tullamore to this!," she mused aloud to herself as she plopped back onto her huge, soft bed. "This is a palace compared to that roach motel I called an apartment!"  
  
She lay there for a moment, soaking in the luxury before getting up and getting back to her unpacking. As she pulled out posters and pictures, she realized that, despite her 35 years, she was still as much of a kid as when she'd left. Her posters were all of favorite bands and movies, although those were for her classroom, not her own room, as much as she would have enjoyed gazing into the face of Clark Gable on her Gone with the Wind poster. All of her pictures of friends were when they were all feeling goofy; they all looked so young and carefree, despite their high pressure jobs of being artists, in one way or another.  
  
She gazed at her pictures lovingly. There was her roommate, Isabel, who, in addition to being an extremely talented writer, was a fellow witch; Chloe, the aspiring singer; David, the wanna-be rockstar; Tula, the corps member of ABT; Tyrone, the newest rising star on Broadway; and Gabe. Oh God, Gabe. She smiled most fondly at his face, albeit a bittersweet face to recollect. Playing romantic opposites in Picnic had given way to something more back in New York, but the two of them had decided that when Adrienne had decided to move back home that the time had come for them to part ways as lovers, although they would always be friends. She had to admit, although she was happy to be back at Hogwarts, she missed him. Not enough to keep her from being happy, just enough to make her feel a little twinge every now and again.  
  
A knock on the door broke her out of her meditations. "Adrienne?," a female voice called from the other side of the door.  
  
"The password is 'yankee,' Professor McGonagall!," she called out.  
  
"Thank you, dear!," Professor McGonagall, called before muttering the password to the sculpture of a falcon that served as hidden doorway to Adrienne's room and walking in. "And you know, there's no need to call me Professor, anymore. You're a colleague now, not a student. It's Minerva." She smiled, not a particularly warm smile, but warmer than Adrienne had ever seen in her years at a student in her class. "Are you ready for the feast? The Hogwarts Express just arrived and the students should be here soon."  
  
Adrienne's eyes got wide. "They should!? Shit!" She began tearing through her trunks in an almost comically panicked manner for a robe to throw over her jeans and tank top that had become her summer uniform over her years in the Muggle world. She finally came across a set of dark teal robes. She quickly slipped them on before running a hand through her unruly, wavy hair. "Do I look presentable?," she asked Professor McGonagall.  
  
"You look fine," she said briskly. "It's not as if it's a formal dinner. Now hurry, we don't want to be late."  
Adrienne followed her out of the room and down the hall. She could say this, Hogwarts had not changed a bit in 18 years. As they entered the great hall, she saw that most of the professors had already found their places, so she took a seat next to a large, bushy-browed giant of a man.   
  
"Hagrid?! Is that you?," she said, eyes sparkling with delight.  
  
"Why Adrienne!," he chortled. "I almost didn't recognize yer! Why, yeh've grown up to be quite a purty thin'. But yeh've almost lost the Irish accent!"  
  
She laughed. "That's what 18 years in America will do for you. Although there, they still think I have a thick accent."  
  
Hagrid laughed heartily and started to respond, but just then the students began filing into the room and taking their places at their respective tables. Adrienne felt a thrum of excitement run through her as the new year began and her face lit up at the prospect of a fresh start again. Eagerly, she watched as the first years shyly stepped up to the sorting hat.  
  
Meanwhile, on the other end of the table, Severus Snape sat contemplating the new professor. He knew she must be the new Muggle Studies teacher, but he hadn't heard her name. However, she looked oddly familiar. The sparkle in her eyes when she had laughed with Hagrid had taken him back to a much different time in his life. But it couldn't be…  
  
Albus Dumbledore stood up from his place at the teacher's table. "Before we begin the feast," he said, "I would like to quickly introduce our new Muggle Studies professor. She has come all the way from New York and a very successful stage career to teach with us. Her name is Professor Adrienne Conlon. I'm sure you will all enjoy her presence, as I am sure she has a few tricks for us up her sleeves." He winked at her conspiratorially.  
  
As the students clapped politely, Adrienne rose just enough from her seat to distinguish herself and wave before sitting back down to wait impatiently for the food. She was just as ready to get some food and rest as the students were, she was sure. The food appeared within seconds, steaming plates of every tasty thing imaginable. However, Severus touched nothing. He was too busy staring at the new professor, who was busily chatting with Hagrid. It couldn't be her, could it? There was no way Adrienne Conlon had come back into his life; he wasn't lucky enough for fate to give him a second chance…  
  
Hagrid noticed that Adrienne had captured the attention of the austere potions master. He quietly said something to her and nodded in his general direction. She turned around to see who could be watching her and obviously recognized Severus right away. Excitedly, she waved at him with a big grin.  
  
As it was on their first day of arithmancy, he was done for and hers all over again. This time, he promised himself, he wouldn't sit idly by and watch his golden opportunities slip away. He wouldn't stand aside and let someone else steal her a second time. 


	3. Chapter 2

The Next Day  
  
Severus decided that since classes didn't start until the following day, it would be a good idea to get reacquainted with Adrienne. It didn't take him much thinking to figure out that she would be getting settled in her classroom. As he made his way to her class, he felt his heart flutter; he felt as if he were the student on his first day of school. As much as he tried to remain cold and detached, Adrienne could penetrate through that wall in a heartbeat. When he arrived at her classroom, he started to knock, but stopped himself and slipped quietly in in order to surprise her; Adrienne always loved surprises.  
  
He was greeted with the roar of some kind of music coming from a box surrounded by an iridescent bubble. Adrienne was nonchalantly dancing around and singing along while hanging posters up on the walls, completely oblivious to his existence.   
  
"I gave you all a boy could give. Take my tears and that's not even…Woah….tainted love….oh whoa oh….tainted love…," Adrienne sang along, thoroughly enjoying herself.  
  
Severus smirked and cleared his throat, causing her to spin around in an attitude that almost looked like fear. "I thought you might want some help setting up your room, although it looks like you're having fun by yourself."  
  
Adrienne laughed a breathless giggle. "Please, do. I didn't even notice you come in!" She walked over to the bubble and reached inside to turn a knob on the box, which caused the music to soften. "Soft Cell," she said, as if that explained everything.  
  
"Soft what?," Severus said, looking at the box curiously.  
  
"Soft Cell. I was in the mood for some music and I found my cd. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them…they were big when we were still-" She cut herself noticing the blank look on Severus' face. "That's right…I've crossed the great Wizarding divide," she laughed. "CD is an abbreviation for compact disc. Bands record their music onto them and you play them on cd players, which run on electricity. Since the magic here usually messes up electronics, I figured out a spell to protect them. I can't live with out the darn things anymore!" Severus gave her a Look. "I'm a pathetic mud blood, I know." She grinned.   
  
Severus shook his head. Only she would get some sick pleasure out of calling herself the most despicable of insults in wizardom. "Don't call yourself that," he chided.  
  
Adrienne laughed. "You haven't changed a bit," she said. "Anyway, are you going to help me or not?"  
  
"Certainly, although I don't understand why you're hanging ridiculous things on the walls," he said. Adrienne rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, what can I do? I'm not well accquainted with Muggle artifacts."  
  
"You know, Muggles only refer to artifacts as really old stuff, like, old caveman pottery?," she giggled. "Anyway, here," she said, pulling a box to him. "If you could, set these up on that shelf," she instructed, pointing at a bookshelf.  
  
Severus opened the box and pulled out a contraption that looked like a small book. "What the devil…?" he muttered.  
  
"What?" Adrienne looked up from the box with posters in it. "Oh, that. Those are dvd's. CD's with movies on them. Really handy. I think there are some Muggle novels in there, as well. Make sure you keep the dvds together and the books together, would ya?"  
  
Snape nodded and carried the box over to the shelf. As he began arranging them, he tried to think up a topic of conversation. Luckily, Adrienne took that duty herself.  
  
"So, what have you been doing since graduation?," she asked. "I think Dumbledore pretty much covered my bases, but I want to know what's been going on with my friends. Anything juicy?" She grinned mischievously and waggled her eyebrows most comically, a la Groucho Marx.  
  
He couldn't help but let a muffled sounding chuckle go. "Well, I studied potions abroad in China," he began.  
  
"I'm not surprised. You were always better than anyone else at potions," she interrupted. "But, sorry, go on."  
  
"Well, there's not much more to tell. I, um…well, how do I put this delicately? Fell into a bad group? But I saw the error of my ways and have been here at Hogwarts ever since," he said briefly. His eyes had not left the books he had been stacking. He simply didn't have the heart to tell her that he had followed the man responsible for the death of two of her closest friends.  
  
Adrienne, with unusual perception, saw right through him, however. "I don't blame you for James and Lily, Severus. No one does," she said quietly.  
  
"Perhaps you don't," he thought.  
  
"I mean, I don't know much because I was so involved in the Muggle world, but I would think how can you tell what's good and evil in a vacuum? One goes with the most persuasive speaker. Look at the Nazis," she said and shrugged. "Would anyone have thought him evil if he hadn't been destructive?," she said, staring him down until he looked into her eyes. Once he met her eyes briefly, she shrugged and hung up a poster from ABT's Swan Lake production the first year Tula danced with them.  
  
As she continued digging through boxes and putting things up, Severus watched her out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth tug with the tiniest smile, or the biggest smile, in his case. "How did you learn so much?," he asked, part in jest and part in awe.  
  
She smiled warmly at him. "About what? That you were a Death Eater or about things in general?"  
  
"Both."  
"Well, for one, I'm freaking brilliant," she started with a laugh, "and for another, you act as if because you never kept in touch no one else did."  
  
"What do you mean?," he inquired.  
  
"Sirius kept in touch for while and I asked about people from time to time," she responded. "The last time I asked about you, he told me that you had fallen to the dark." She paused for a moment and looked to the ground almost helplessly. "He was the one who sent me the owl about James and Lily, as well," she continued quietly. "I guess it really tore him up, too, because pretty soon after that, he quit writing."  
  
"That's because he-" Severus stopped himself quickly. As much as he hated Sirius Black, he didn't want to be the one to tell Adrienne that her beloved Sirius was a murderer. He could envision the look in her eyes; seeing that much hurt and disappointment there would kill him directly. "Yes. He was very upset, so I hear."  
  
She stood there for a moment in sad contemplation. Severus moved towards her slightly, his hand raising the tiniest bit in anticipation to lay a comforting hand on her sloping shoulder, but before he could move more than a step, she shook her head in a determined manner and went back to her work. She wasn't going to allow herself any self-pity. Her tears wouldn't and couldn't bring James and Lily back. 


	4. Chapter 3 or 2 continuedwhatever

"Is Harry still at Hogwarts or has he graduated already?," she asked as she reached into her box with her cd's.   
  
Severus nodded. "Yes, he graduates this year."  
  
Adrienne nodded and smiled as she flipped through the discs. "Gosh. I feel old now!" She looked at Severus and winked. "We're old fogies, Sevie." Severus chuckled, which got an even bigger smile from her. "But despite the fact that it will make me feel ancient, I'd like to see him. Maybe not meet him…wouldn't want to upset him with anyone who would remind him of his parents. But I would like to see how he turned out."  
  
"He looks just like James," Severus responded, a bit more coldly. The Potters…well, really almost anyone from his time at Hogwarts, didn't fall much into his good graces, deceased or not. "Anyway," he said as he placed the final book on the shelves, anxious to change the conversation, "I'm done with these. What else do you need me to do?"  
  
Adrienne looked at her boxes. Most were empty, piled haphazardly in the corner, and her poster box only had one lone poster of the Ramones left to hang. "Hold that thought" she said and quickly hung up that one, making the poster box empty now, too. As she tossed that box out of the way she said, "Well, the only thing now is the tv…I'm definitely going to need some help with that."  
  
Severus refrained from asking. His mind was still trying to wrap around the "cd player". "Alright. Where is it and where do you want it?," he asked.  
  
"In my room," she said. "It was too big to carry and open doors."  
  
"Well, why didn't you just use magic?," he asked. Not that he was complaining. He would love to see her room…  
Adrienne slapped her forehead. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I'm a ditz!," she laughed. "Ya know you've lived in the Muggle world too long when using magic to do things doesn't even occur to you!."  
  
Snape chuckled. "Well, I'll help you get it anyway," he said. "Ease you back into the logical way of doing things gradually." He didn't smile, that wasn't his style, but Adrienne noted that the generally dead looking eyes looked alive and teasing.  
  
"No need to be snotty," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "But come on, my rooms by the Gryffindor dorms. Since Minerva's retiring this year, Dumbledore is kind of training me to be house head." She puffed her chest out proudly and grinned. "And I can guarantee your serpents will never see another Quidditch victory."  
  
Severus looked at her skeptically. "I do believe I could still out fly you," he replied.  
  
"Doubtful, considering you never could," she teased. "And you would never have a chance on my new Nimbus 3000." She began walking out the door and down the hall.  
  
Severus strode after her. "A Nimbus 3000? What do you need with a high performance Quidditch broom?"  
  
She laughed as she walked. "Just because I don't play doesn't negate my need for speed."  
  
Severus shook his head amusedly. "You might be 36-"  
  
"35, sir!," she interrupted, mockingly scandalized.  
  
"Sorry. For a 35 year-old, you still act like you're 17."  
  
"No, you're just too old for your own good," she chided flirtatiously. "But anyway, this is my entrance. Yankee!" The large falcon structure turned to form a chamber. "Hop in!," she said.  
  
Severus reluctantly stepped in. Quickly, the chamber spun and ended up facing into a bedroom. Smaller than his own, Severus noted the disarray that inevitably followed moving, but it suited any room belonging to Adrienne, who walked in to her room with no hesitation. "This is it," she said, pointing to a rather large box. She had been right. There was no way she could have lifted it herself. Severus couldn't help be see this as a chance to try and show off.  
  
However, not wanting to seem over eager (God forbid he show anything other contempt and cynicism), he wandered over to her hearth, where a fire was magically blazing. At first, he gazed into the fire, but then his eyes traveled upwards to the pictures that sat haphazardly in frames on the mantle. He gingerly picked up a picture of Adrienne and all of her friends at what looked like a party.   
  
In the picture, a very handsome man with brown hair, twinkling blue eyes, and a charming smile had his arms wrapped around Adrienne in a way that was, shall we say, more than friendly. Severus felt a pang of jealousy, but quickly stifled it. "Who are they?" he asked Adrienne, who had begun looking over his shoulder at the pictures with a wistful smile.  
"Those are my friends from New York," she replied. Severus noticed a tenderness in her voice that didn't come through much. "This is Isabel, my room mate. She was a student at Oberon-"  
  
"She was a witch as well?" Severus asked, rather surprised.  
  
"Yes, lucky, wasn't it?," Adrienne replied. "But anyway, this is Tyrone…he's…"  
  
Severus let her babble on about her friends for a while. He couldn't care less about any of them, but the look in Adrienne's eyes was worth it. Only she could speak so passionately about such a deceptively simple topic as friends. Finally, he cut to the chase. "And him?," he asked, indicating the blonde.  
  
Adrienne gently removed the picture from his hands and gazed at the face with a mix of longing and happiness. "Oh that's Gabe, my boyfriend," she said with a for once quiet smile. "He was so-" She cut herself short and quickly replaced the picture on the mantle. "That's is to say, ex-boyfriend. We broke up when I moved back," she briefly explained in an abrupt manner most unlike her. "So! Are we gonna move this tv or aren't we?" She forced a grin to her face that didn't quite reach her eyes.  
  
Severus restrained himself from calling her on it, however. If she wanted to be behind a mask, it was in no way his duty to draw her from behind it. "Yes. Just get the doors for me, since you want to do this the muggle way," he said as he bent down and picked up the box in a swift swoop, but then stumble under the weight. He quickly regained his composure and jerked his head towards her door. "I can't hold this forever you know." He quickly wanted to hit his head against a brick wall. Leave it to him to be sarcastic and snippy with the one person he didn't want to be like that around.  
  
Luckily, however, Adrienne smiled. "You really haven't changed a bit. Is there a preservative in the air here?" she joked as she opened the door, which Severus noted seemed like a regular door from the inside.  
  
The two walked side by side down the hall, passing a few students along the way. "Ya know," Adrienne began, "I really should thank you for helping me out so much today."  
  
Severus shrugged as much as he could without dropping the box. "It's nothing."  
  
"No, but it is. It's nice having a friend here so quickly. Let me thank you for it."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Let me take you out to dinner."  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
"In New York."  
  
Severus almost dropped the box. "What?"  
  
"We'll apparate," she explained. "How about Friday night. Meet me in my room at 10. It'll be about 5 in New York, so we can wander around, eat, have some fun, apperate back."  
"We can't apperate on school property," Severus reminded her.  
  
"We'll stroll off of it," she said, never one to let circumstances get in the way of anything she wanted to do.  
  
Severus sighed, trying to disguise his felicity, but a tiny smirk snuck through anyway. "Fine. No one could ever say no to you anyway." 


	5. Chapter 4

The next day  
  
"Good afternoon, class. Welcome to 6th year Muggle Studies," Adrienne addressed her class of Gryffindors, her last class of the day. "I am Professor Conlon, but you can call me Adrienne." She smiled warmly and winked. "Being called Professor makes me feel a bit ancient." The class tittered nervously. "In this class, I will help you get to know a world that I know intimately and love. Granted, by the time you leave this class, the knowledge I impart will be virtually obsolete, but nevermind that. It's still pretty bloody fun!" A red haired girl raised her hand. "Yes…um…"  
  
"Ginny," she said. "Ginny Weasely."  
  
"Right. Ginny," Adrienne said. "Wait, Arthur Weasely's daughter?" Ginny nodded. "You're father's a good man and very bright. I look forward to seeing what you have to contribute to the class. Anyway. What was your question?"  
  
Ginny, who had turned a bit pink with embarassment from her teacher's attention, for which Adrienne felt truly sorry for, replied, "Why, m'am, will it be obsolete?"  
  
"Because the muggle world is one of fast trends. The entire culture changes so rapidly, it is almost impossible to keep up to date," Adrienne said. "A very good question. Now, to get the ball rolling in the right direction, for the first few days we're going to partake in two of the most popular muggle entertainments, movies and music."   
  
The class looked at each other with puzzled looks. "Movies?" "What's the big deal about muggle music?"  
  
Adrienne giggled. "How many of you have heard of emo?" Blank looks. "Punk?" Blank again. "R&B?" No response. "As I thought. Now, usually, electronic devices cannot be used on Hogwarts grounds because of magical interference, but Professor Dumbledore has given me a spell to block the magic. I'm rather new at it, so bear with me."  
  
She turned and grabbed her portable cd player. "What's that?" a boy from the back of the room asked.  
  
"This," she said, "is a cd player, a portable stereo. And this," she held up a shiny plastic disk, "is a cd. This is how most muggles listen to music." The class looked extremely confused. "I wish I could tell you how they work exactly, but most muggles don't even know," she continued. "But just listen to the music. What you're going to be listening to is a song called 'The Middle' by an American band called Jimmy Eat World. Was very popular a few months ago. After that is a song by a band called Simple Plan that is on the radios a lot right now. And then is a classic song from the 1960's by Aretha Franklin called 'Respect.'" She slipped the cd into the player and closed it before stepping back and pulling out her wand. "Magius haltentum!," she cried, pointing her wand at the player.  
  
A stream of blue came from her wand and surrounded the player in a bubble. The class gasped. "Good, it worked," Adrienne said with a self satisfied smile. She reached into the bubble and hit a button on the player, making music stream forth.  
  
"Hey, don't write yourself off yet…"  
  
The class looked at each other, first in amazement at the music, and then in amusement at the sight of Adrienne slightly dancing around to the music.  
  
Meanwhile, Snape, done with his classes for the day, was stalking the halls, just waiting for a student to cross him, when he heard strange sound coming from the vicinity of Adrienne's class. He walked towards the music and found himself, indeed, at the door of Adrienne's class. He braced himself against anything he might see, because, knowing her, anything could be happening behind that door. Slowly, he opened it.  
  
It was a dance party an entire class of 6th year Gryffindors were dancing around, with Adrienne right in the middle of it! "It just takes a while…"  
  
No one had even noticed his presence. But soon enough, Adrienne did. "Severus!," she exclaimed, boogieing her way over.  
  
The entire class stopped. Just the sound of the cd remained. "Everything everything will be alright, alright…"  
  
Adrienne noticed the silence. Remembering what she had heard briefly of Snape's reputation as a teacher, she made herself not drag him into dancing but said, "Is there a problem Professor Snape?"  
  
"Yes," he said. "Your music is too loud and you obviously cannot control your class."  
  
"Just an introduction to muggles, Professor," she said. He glared at her, putting on the act of being angry. She nodded, suddenly understanding the extent of the demeanor he had with students, and slowly turned around to face the class. "Class dismissed. Homework. With another classmate, write two scrolls of parchment on electricity, whatever about it you want. Due next class."  
  
The class slowly slunk out except for Ginny, who scurried up to Adrienne. "Please, Professor Conlon, could you bring your…c…d…player to the dorms sometime and show us all about it and tell us about the music?" she pleaded, stumbling over the new term "cd player".  
  
"Of course, Ginny," Adrienne replied with a sweet smile. Ginny grinned and ran quickly out of the room. "So, what draws you into my lair?"  
  
"The racket coming from your room," Severus responded, noting that the music was still playing, only now a different song.  
  
"…And I wrote this letter in my head, 'cause so many things were left unsaid…" the voice from the stereo sang.  
  
"Very different from the music you played yesterday," Snape stated. "It's not bad," he said, thinking more about the lyrics than anything else.  
  
"I'd do anything just to hold you in my arms, to try to make you laugh, 'cause somehow I can't put you in the past…"  
  
"Who is it?" he asked.  
  
"Simple Plan," Adrienne replied. "I've got the whole cd if you want to borrow it and my stereo. They're pretty good. In fact, I'll give it to you after dinner tonight."  
  
Snape nodded. "Speaking of which," he said, "I have paperwork to do before getting ready. Anything I should wear especial?"  
  
"Yes. Muggle clothes," she said.  
  
Snape looked at her like she'd just said the dumbest thing ever. "Yes, Adrienne, I know that. But anything else to take into consideration?" She thought for a minute before answering the negative. "Very well, then," he said, "I take my leave until this evening." He nodded his head and turned to leave, the song echoing in his mind.  
  
"This could be my one last chance to make you understand. And I just can't let you leave me once again…"  
  
"This is your chance, Severus," he thought to himself. "Don't blow it." 


	6. Chapter 5

Author's note: Ok, I read Order of the Pheonix, and like many others, cried my eyes out at that one certain death (not telling...people who give endings and suprises away go the hell...). I had a dilemma of whether or not to continue this story, because of important people in it, and have decided to continue it. Somethings will be used from OotP to progress the plot, but for the most part it won't be taken into account, since I started this story prior to it. Just figured I'd let you know so you wouldn't be like, "Wait...in OotP..." :) I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!!!!!  
  
~Cami  
  
That night  
  
Severus adjusted his Muggle clothes self-consciously. Between that afternoon and the present, he had increased the pressure on himself almost to the breaking point. By now, he'd almost convinced himself that if he blew it, life was not worth living. The small capacity for rational thought was all that was keeping him sane, and being about to visit a strange world in clothes he was unused to wearing had him even more nervous. After all, it had been almost 18 years since he'd had to wear such garb.  
  
"Adrienne? May I come in?," he called past the statue.  
  
"Sure! Entra, por favor!," he heard her call from the other side.  
  
"Yankee," he muttered, enabling him to enter her room. He saw that she was behind a sort of dressing screen, hidden from view. "What was that you said?"  
  
"What? 'Entra'?" she asked.  
  
"Yes. What does it mean?"  
  
She laughed merrily. "It's Spanish for enter. One of my ex-boyfriends in New York, Marc, was Puerto Rican, so I picked up a lot of Spanish from spending time with him and his family.  
  
"So, how do I look?" she asked as she stepped out from behind the screen.  
  
Severus found himself at a loss for words. Sure, she was beautiful when she was roaming the school makeup-less and in jeans, but as she was now, she was stunning. She wore a black, cap-sleeved shirt over a deep red wrap skirt with gold embroidery that looked like it had been made from a real Indian sari, and the delicate golden jewelry that adorned her completed the illusion of a modern day rajah's daughter. Or rather, it would have if not for her reddish hair and bright green eyes. Finally, he managed to force out a, "You look nice."  
  
Adrienne grinned and spun slowly. Finally she said, "Yeah, I don't clean up too badly, I suppose." She took a final glance in the mirror before continuing, "So, are you ready to experience the world of New York? More importantly, are you ready to reach Nirvana?"  
  
"Yes, I'm ready, and am I ready to reach what?," Severus said and he grabbed the nicest looking coat that hung on the coat rack near the entrance and helped Adrienne put it on.  
  
"Nirvana. It's an Indian restaurant in New York. Really good." She adjusted the coat and looked Severus over. "You don't clean up to badly yourself," she said with a grin.   
  
He looked down at himself, almost blushing, not seeing anything special, just black slacks and a dress shirt in a dark silvery color. However, he responded with a "Thank you." He hoped this was all a good sign.  
  
Adrienne turned to check a mirror quickly, giving him time to study her. Unfortunately, she turned all too soon and caught him staring, but instead of looking like a toad had just jumped on her, he could have sworn her eyes lingered on his a little longer than necessary before bustling to the door.  
  
"So what're we waiting on? Let's get going!," she said, quickly leaving the room, trailed by Severus.  
  
The entire walk off campus was in a paradoxical silence that, while not exactly comfortable, certainly could not be classified as wholly awkward, either. Both were steeped in their own thoughts, both revolving in confusion around their companion. Adriennewas fairly single-minded. She was confused about Severus's intentions. She had always viewed them, at most, as some of the very best of friends and nothing more. However, that didn't even begin to explain his gaze earlier; she'd never seen that look in his eyes. Well, alright, once or twice when they were engaged in conversation, the few times where he ever truly met anyone's eyes.   
  
She truly hoped her instincts were wrong because that would mean she could cause her dearest friend pain. When she was invited to teach at Hogwarts, she not only saw it as a chance to return to what seemed like another home, but to have sometime to herself to sort things out as well. When she and Gabe had been together, things had seemed great--to good to be true, in fact. But she always felt something missing. But it wasn't just with Gabe; she had felt this absence for almost 18 years. Not that she wasn't happy, just not content, and as much as she adored Severus, she dreaded the thought of anyone coming between her and whatever it was she'd been missing so much.  
  
Severus, for his part, was wondering several things: what Adrienne was thinking, what that lingering glance meant, what was the best way to her heart, and, above all, how did she manage to be so damn beautiful?!?! The furtive glances of her he stole drove him even more mad. The moonlight reflecting off her face made her look like some sort of ethereal being. It was almost odd to see. She had always been what he classified a day person, one of those people who relished in light. God knows, between her warmth and the power confined in that petite body, she could have been mistaken for her own burning ball of fire. It made him feel like a very god to have this bright creature give up her light to walk with him for a fleeting moment in the dark, his world. If she was day, he was night. In his more poetic moments, Severus had sometimes mused that if together, they would make a beautiful sunset to awe the world. (Mind you, Severus was no poet…rather ineloquent, really, but he had his very rare moments)  
  
Soon enough, the pensive pair reached the edge of campus. "So, where are we apparating to, exactly?" Severus asked, knowing that he couldn't get there without knowing where it was.  
  
"30 Central Park South…well, it would probably be better to apparate somewhere in Central Park so we won't be seen. Muggles will assume the sound is gun fire. I know the perfect spot," Adrienne responded. She moved closer to him. "Hold onto me and that way it'll be easier to apparate together, okay?" Severus nodded, more than willing to hold onto her, and gingerly put an arm around her slim waist. "On the count of three. One…two….three!"  
  
And with a loud CRACK, they were gone. 


End file.
